4 December 2020
Japan Anti-Doping Agency

Japan Sports Agency and JADA Host Online“2020 International Seminar” in Partnership with WADA

The Japan Sports Agency (JSA) of the Japanese Government and the Japan Anti-Doping
Agency (JADA) hosted the annual “International Anti-Doping Seminar in Asia & Oceania”
on December 1-3. The 14th annual seminar was organized as “GoVirtual” for the firsttime due to COVID-19. 2020 is a landmark year for anti-doping organizations (ADOs) as
the revised World Anti-Doping Code (2021Code) and International Standards will
become effective from January 2021.
The seminar in this significant timing has brought together more than 200 people from52 countries/regions online to exchange information matching the needs of ADOs, andthe participants virtually united despite the time difference.

The theme of the 2020 seminar was “Are you ready!?--for the 2021Code & International
Standards and for beyond.” JADA developed the agenda with WADA based on the input
from the anti-doping community in Asia and Oceania in advance.
In his opening address, Mr. Taido Tanose, State Minister of MEXT(*1) and WADA
Executive Committee member, expressed how the anti-doping community should beunited in this difficult time to reassure the confidence of athletes and public that sportcan be played in a clean environment and how the Tokyo 2020 in 2021 can be a dopingfree Games. Echoing Mr. Tanose, Mr. Witold Banka (WADA President) stressed: “WADA
must go further to build bridges and unite efforts to protect athletes and the integrity ofsports globally” and how a clean sport community exists for athletes.
Throughout the three-day seminar, it was highlighted that anti-doping is in “a new era”
with the revised 2021 World Anti-Doping Code and two new International Standards(Education and Results Management) added to six other existing ones.
Day 2 of the seminar was dedicated to “Education” reflecting the importance of the newInternational Standard for Education (ISE).

The seminar continues to put theathlete-centered engagement. At theAthletes Roundtable, Ms Yang Yang
(WADAVice

President),

Mr.

Ben

Sandford (WADA Athlete CommitteeChair)andDr.

Koji

Murofushi,

Commissioner of the JSA and former
WADA and JADA Athlete Committee
member, discussed how the new ISE
and “Athlete Anti-Doping Rights Act”
can bring the positive impact onprotecting clean and fair athletes anddeveloping the sporting values.

There were exchanges of collaborative clean sport initiatives presented by theInternational Testing Agency (ITA), Badminton World Federation (BWF) and regional
members of the anti-doping community. The panel session revealed how a closer
partnership and learning good practices can raise the standard of the anti-dopingorganizations.

Over the three days of the seminar, JADA ensured dialogue and interactions among
participants from the anti-doping community, athletes, WADA executives and ITA in an
informal format. Given anti-doping activity has been required of some adaptation due toCOVID-19, JADA conducted a post-seminar “Japan Day” fun session and shared someexamples of online value-based education activities with Asia-Oceania colleagues.
The 2020 International Seminar was successfully closed with “solidarity and unity”
remarks by Prof. Hidenori Suzuki, JADA Chair. He reassured the Japanese commitment
to the continuous partnership among the anti-doping organizations to raise the standard.
Throughout the seminar, the participants were able to gain confidence for theimplementation of the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code, and JADA will keep initiating thecapacity development to support the clean and fair sport movement across the Asianand Oceanian regions.

■Find more information on the International Anti-Doping Seminar, visit h ere:https://www.playtrue2020-sp4t.jp/(*1)MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Contact:
Dr.YaYa Yamamoto, Sayaka Hori(Ms)International Dept. Sport for Tomorrow Group JADA
03-5801-0964
intl_relations@playtruejapan.org